KwaZulu-Natal police have killed five suspects in two separate incidents in the Inanda township north of Durban on Friday.

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda stated that in both incidents, police responded to shots fired at them by the armed suspects.

Netshiunda said in the first incident, police operationalised intelligence about the whereabouts of a wanted suspect in the area. They then managed to corner the suspect along the Etafuleni main road.

“The suspect opened fire at police officers, and a shootout ensued. During the shootout, the suspect, who was wanted for murder, three counts of attempted murder, and for business robbery, was shot and fatally wounded,” said Netshiunda.

According to Netshiunda, the suspect was found in possession of a firearm.

Detailing the events that unfolded in the second incident, Netshiunda said police followed up on intelligence about suspects who were wanted for murder, attempted murder, and house robberies in and around Inanda.

He said the police then pounced on the suspects at the cottages on Dr Langalibalele Road in Inanda.

According to Netshiunda, when the suspects saw the police, they started shooting at them, and the officers retaliated.

“After the shootout, four suspects were found to have sustained fatal gunshot wounds,” he said.

Three firearms, whose serial numbers had been filed off, were found in the possession of the suspects, he added.

No police officer was injured during either of the shootout incidents.

In the latest fourth quarter crime stats for the 2024/2025 financial year (from January 2025 to March 2025), Inanda police station was listed as the number one police station for murder both in the country and in the province.

Inanda is also listed in the top 30 police stations for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, arson, contact crimes, attempted murder, and kidnapping, among several other crimes.

According to the stats during this period under review, five men aged between 19 and 26 were found assaulted and hacked to death in an open field in the area. “It is alleged that the men were taken from their homes at night by a group of people and were found dead in the morning in an open field near a school.”

karen.singh@inl.co.za

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